Monday the San Antonio Spurs announced the team had waived point guard Cameron Payne.
Back on July 17, the Spurs had acquired Payne, a 2025 second round pick (via New Orleans), and cash considerations from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a protected second round pick in 2024.
The next 48 hours will be interesting to watch in the event a team claims Payne off waivers. Teams with cap space (Indiana Pacers), disabled player exceptions (Chicago Bulls), and teams with trade player exceptions (multiple teams) large enough to absorb Payne’s contract can claim Payne off waivers. Should this happen, Payne’s $6.5 million cap hit will no longer be on the Spurs’ books, and instead on the claiming teams cap sheet.
The Spurs are in a position where they have too many players on guaranteed contracts on the roster. While teams can carry up to 21 players on the roster in the offseason, decisions will have to be made before opening night, when the most players a team can have on the roster are 15 guaranteed contract players and three two-way players.
With Payne waived, the Spurs now have 17 players on guaranteed deals and two players on two-way contracts. This means San Antonio will still have to waive or trade two players on guaranteed contracts before the first game of the season.
When looking at the Spurs’ cap sheet, the most likely players to be traded or waived are Khem Birch, Cedi Osman, Reggie Bullock, and/or Devonte’ Graham.
While it’s unknown who the starting five will be, Tre Jones, Graham, and Blake Wesley remain the three point guards on the roster with Payne now gone.
The Spurs can still add one more player on a two-way contract, but as far as full roster spots go, they’ll need to make some more roster moves within the next month and a half.
Training camp is expected to begin in the first week of October and then the first preseason game approaches October 9 against Oklahoma City. After five preseason games, the coaching staff and front office will have to decide who will be on the opening night roster before tip-off of the regular season October 25 against Dallas.
